Potato crusted snapper with yellow pepper salsa

One thing I don’t talk about much on this blog is my grocery shopping preferences. I try to buy locally grown food as much as possible. My grocery store labels the origin of all its meat and produce, which makes it easier. I buy very little processed food, and I try to avoid farmed shrimp and fish. Instead, I typically go for wild caught, sustainable seafood.

We eat a lot of what my store calls "pacific red snapper", which is really just a fancy name for rockfish – it’s sustainable and fished locally. It also happens to be relatively inexpensive.

This recipe takes snapper to a whole new level with a potato crust and yellow pepper salsa. A mixture of shredded potato, herbs and parmesan cheese is pressed onto the top of snapper fillets. The fish goes into a hot pan, potato side down to cook, then is flipped to finish the other side.

The salsa consists of roasted yellow bell peppers, tomato, herbs, capers and onion. I used red onion because the flavor is tamer than yellow or white onion. I also chopped up the capers so that they’d incorporate better into the salsa.

What you end up with is a delicious dish that’s easy enough for a weeknight meal, but also fancy enough for a dinner party.